CORPORATE INTRANETS

IBM Loosens Tie, All Hell Breaks Loose

Big Blue's in-house knock-off of The Onion

IBM officially drops its unofficial dress code, and next thing you know, employees are throwing all caution to the wind. In an intranet knockoff of The Onion, sarcasm rules. Workers are questioning authority, ridiculing decisions, and—quelle horreur!—even sassing back. “NEW LOTUS DOMINO FUNCTIONALITY GUARANTEED TO SHED 30 +LBS IN 30 DAYS!” screams one headline. “IBM CHANGES MISSION: DROPS PRODUCTS AND SERVICES TO FOCUS ON 'KEEPING PEOPLE IN THE LOOP,'” quips another.

The site, called Blue Monday, launched quietly this spring at an IBM facility in Yorktown Heights, New York. “It's a skunk-works project,” says its founder, a research manager who prefers to remain nameless. Top executives tolerate Blue Monday, he presumes, because it contributes to the bottom line—a company mandate for all new initiatives. The site includes links to serious, practical IBM Web pages amid the humor.

Six developers maintain Blue Monday, which draws 18,000 pageviews a week and relies on contributions from employees around the world. One recent item ridicules Big Blue's obsession with adding an e to trademark commonplace words, as in e-server and e-learning: “U is so fed up she is considering teaming with F to send E a strong message.” But even corporate anarchists know not to go too far. “We portrayed one guy as a Jedi knight,” says the site's creator. “We were sure to ask permission first.”